Next Xbox must be revealed before Sony gets too far ahead

Remember when Sony announced the PlayStation 4? Well, you should do, because it was just under two months ago. But two months can be a very long time in the games industry. Sony managed to beat Microsoft to the punch and reveal plenty of details about its next-generation console, showing off juicy bits of information such as a new controller and new games. Microsoft was expected to react with a vengeance and tell us what it had up its sleeve, but things have gone a little too quiet on that front.

At the end of the day, all that matters is when the customer drops the cash on the counter and walks home with his/her new system.

Microsoft may be staying quiet, and some impatient people might be writing them off based on (admittedly realistic) rumors, but we'll see if these same people flip-flop and run out and buy a 720 or PS4 on launch day.

Good point. What I'm concerned with is if there's not enough PS4s/720s in stock on release, people might get the other system instead. So even if 75% of consumers want a PS4 on launch day after 720 announcement, if there's a shortage of PS4s and 720 is out at around the same time, those people might flock over to 720 instead. Or vice versa. But that's business I guess.

But that's how it always goes. Pretty much every platform launch is sold out, for one reason or another. Even the PS3 with its supposedly "slow launch" was either sold out or had very limited supply for the first month.

I disagree. If a PS4 is genuinely the console you want, you will get a PS4 despite having to wait a little longer for it. Unless you need a console to sell on Ebay at a profit or you have an inferiority complex that pushes you to always buy the latest and greatest in tech as this purchases determines your value as a human being, I don't see to many people "settling" for the other console due to lack of availability. I can GUARANTEE you that both of these consoles will sell out at launch regardless of when they come out.

Im not going to buy one and not the other. I like what the PS4 offers so I'm getting it. If MS wants my money they better show me something worth buying. I own a wii an xbox and ps3 because at one point I found value in them. I dont own a wii u because it holds no vslue to me. When it does, I'll buy one. Why is it a VS thing? This wasn't a console war last generation.

really? i mean if i set out to buy a banana but there weren't any i would look somewhere else i wouldn't suddenly decide "you know what i quite fancy an apple"

on-topic: its still way to early if MS has anything to learn from sony is how successful they were despite launching a year late and despite the price tag and all the other mistakes they made. because sony provided a better service and a reason for people to buy the ps3 in other words a variety of exclusives. PS+ gives you a large number of free games for the same price xbox live charges you just for the privilege of using the internet and playing your games online (keeping in mind you already paid for your internet connection and you already paid full price for your game).

It boggles me how anyone could disagree with that good point of yours. It's something alot of people overlook when taking everything into account on how well a system sells during launch. Interms of new consoles, if both 720 and PS4 releases in the same period then it will mean alot of parents will either choose PS4 over 720 or vice versa depending on which console is in stock. Parents really don't give a damn about minor differences in consoles, if they know a new console is coming out they'll want to get one for their kid. If PS4 is out of stock, you'll bet your ass they'll get 720 because they don't want their kids to be without a new console come holiday time, same goes for PS4 if 720 is out of stock.

Logic, I think fanboys will wait for sure. People that like a particular games that is available will wait. Those with lots of disposable income will buy what's available if they plan to get both anyway.

@Blackdeath_663

I don't understand how people still believe in that exclusives nonsense. Have you seen the sales of Starhawk and Battle Royale. MS would have killed for two things. A normal failure rate and Sony's reputation going into the current generation. RRoD alone should have killed the 360. Sony's reputation alone should have allowed them to quickly catch MS. But that didn't happen. It took Sony 7 years to catch up. If exclusives mattered it would have happened in the PS3's second or third year. The PS2 sold over 100 million in 5 years. If those exclusives meant anything the PS3 should have hit 100 million last year or sooner.

@aCasualGamer

In the US most parents will buy what they're told or will get a gift card. Children are often spoiled and many parents are scared to disappoint them. Americans can be stupid when it comes to appeasing kids. Watch the doors open on a Black Friday.

MS will spend money on marketing and that's what they should do, but it is not going to dictate sales. They've spent a boatload on Surface, Windows 8, and Windows Phone... but at the end of the day the numbers on those products are sad and have poor reviews. I have no doubt the 720 will sell out at launch, but if its not a product that people want then it won't be as successful... regardless of the success of the 360.

Marketing doesn't work as well on products that people don't really want. But it does really well on one they do. And many will want the next consoles.

But I think MS is so quiet because they are planning to roll out the 720 in many ways. Through retail, subsidies and cable companies. Pachter is right on that. The leak from last Summer spelled it all out. That method may create a install base that will be next to impossible for Sony to match. Especially if they add 720 capability to Samsung TVs. That would be a key. They already have relationships with all of the cable companies.

If the PS4 isn't also a cable-box, Sony needs to get that done. Xbox 720 hardware in a cable-box could even be used to rent digital copies of games or allow for a Gamefly digital rental service on the Xbox mini.

Actually that Gamefly thing would be a great selling point for Live. A Digital rental service. Without them choosing for you like on PSN+.

The problem I see with your argument there is the assumption that people would want tv integration from their cable provider on a game console when they more than likely already have advanced receivers with DVR and on-demand features. It's a play by Microsoft to have a more broad appeal than just playing games... but adding this with always online and blocking used games, though just rumors at this point, they run the risk of alienating a substantial number of current customers who just play games and maybe use Netflix/Hulu beyond that. People who are not dedicated to the brand and won't just buy the next iteration regardless.

I am one such consumer and it's painfully clear that I'm not alone. A gamer looking for value in gaming. PS4 looks promising on that front and I am very disinterested in the 720 from the rumors, but I am waiting for the reveal. MS is not going to sell me on always online, cable providers, or deep Kinect integration. I just don't care about having that. I want games and I want to hear the level of excitement from developers creating games for the 720 that we've heard for the PS4.

Digital game rentals/streaming will likely be common with both PS4 and 720. Bringing in Gamefly just adds yet another layer of subscription. PS+ will likely be tiered to include the Gaikai service or not.

Monkey, I see it as both. You may want everything to run through your receiver. Same here. But as you know, advanced receivers have HDMI on them. It would still run through them. But the way I see this, and I think it's the way they look at it, is having a machine in the house that already has the games ability is to their advantage.

They can undercut Motorola, who seem to have most of the set-top space. And at the same time have their games in your living room whether you wanted them there or not. Right now, cable companies charge anywhere from $13-15 for a DVR that they provide software for. Imagine MS says we'll take care of the software and we'll sell you the boxes for less than Motorola. Now instead of a regular cable box, you get a Xbox-Mini cablebox. Everyone.

The ones that game will have that. The ones that don't will have a DVR and cablebox. But sometimes those people will hear about a game or the Grand-kids will be over. And games will be bought. And I don't buy into the fanboy sense of always on. I think it's the normal cable-box always on. And Sony is just as likely to block used games as MS. They will just excuse it as the develop did it. Though it will happen with Sony patented technology.

I've also never understood the "It does more than I want for the same price" mentality. So what. Just use what you want. The PS4 will do all of the same things. If you don't like it. You might as well get a Wii U now because both will have those features. As for developer support. You hear about that so much because that hasn't been Sony's MO. They usually didn't care about tools as much and developer support. MS has been there with better tools and support from day one. They've been known to assign an engineer or two to bigger developers and sending them to the company. All of those things about developers fleeing MS are fanboy propaganda.

I agree completely on your last comment. Both will end up renting games. Gamefly might be brought in for one not as an extra layer, but as name recognition. Sadly people will follow a name. If it has a built-in install base, why not use it. It why restaurants advertise Coke and Pepsi.

What matters in a gaming context is "Where are the Games?!" And in that regard MS are proving themselves as being focused solely on the popular and what sales. Not realizing, not caring, how games have become limited as a result.

And while Sony isn't as focused on just spewing content for money, makes games for their system rather than wait for 3rd parties, they've been as narrow as only considering "AAA" titles.

Lol watch MS open the flood gates of hardcore exclusive games come E3. Its funny because you and everyone else will be "So surprised."

If MS supplied its fans with high quantity of core games for the first 5 years of THIS GEN then what makes you think they can't do it again next gen. Last I check MS has more support for core games so going on to next gen that could last a hell of allot longer then 5 years.

that's seems to be the only thing people complain about MS this gen. In 2011 the quantity of exclusives simply dropped and Sony's has risen. Therefor Sony's better.

I guess the internet will be happy with MS if they just simply supplied more games.

@Stage wheres your proof. Show me any time before 2011 MS went casual. Do you know MS line up in then and now?

I think it has a lot to do with what's coming out( game wise ) Day one buyers are going for games nothing else really matters. Specs are fun to argue about but for me it's all about games. KILLZONE SHADOW FALL my #1 reason for wanting PS4

How is Sony getting too far?? They announced PS4 in February and haven't made any more announcements since. E3 is only two months away and Microsoft will make a bigger splash if they hold their announcement and just surprise everyone at E3 with guns blazing instead of prematurely blowing their load like Sony and showing us stuff we've already seen before at E3 like they've done for the past 2 E3's.

True being the only one of the big 3 showing new console will help Crete hype, but Sony is still yet to show the ps4, and I'm sure both will have lots of games and features to show off... Price and release date are the biggies. But I feel that all eyes are on Nintendo cause they really need to show off a lot of games, there year long "head start" was wasted

M$ has stayed too quiet... as if they were telling people that there is no next gen Xbox in the works.

That is not good.

Sony strategy to to let the world know that there is a PS4 in the works even if there was no console to show was indeed very clever.

Sony capitalized on the "we do not comment on rumors and speculations" stuff M$ probably by now is being bombarded by gamers for two months now.

I really feel Sony caught M$ off guard this time.

Like how Nintendo realized with GameCube it cannot go head to head with PlayStation 3 for the core gamer's market and went for the causal market, I feel M$ will also go full blast with casuals with Kinect 2.

Sony will stay with the core gaming community it helped build with the PS1 and PS2. They did not sway too far to the left nor right with PS Move.

Too far ahead...First they have to reveal theirs....lol No need to rush. Xbox is gonna be great. I don't blame them for not being shaken by anything shown by sony already. MS reveal will be bigger and reveal more and be better overall. It's one of the perks of not going first.

The can reveal the next xbox tomorrow, if it has always online than they can keep it. Everyone else can feel free to spend their money wherever they want to, but I will not be buying an always online console.

If the rumors are true, the "always online" feature will only be applicable to the subsidized subscription version of the console. This would give MS constant access to your 720 in order to brick the machine via the Internet if you miss a monthy payment.

However, by paying full price for the console at launch, you will avoid all of this.

All MS is doing is giving people OPTIONS. You make it seem like people will be pigeonholed into the first option, which isn't true.

What you say makes sense, but common sense says that Microsoft will move forward with this "always online" thing (if it turns out true). So, for 720 they may require a connection for subsidized model, which makes sense, but come Next-next-gen (after 720), it's not too far of a step to require online for all models, since they will have introduced it with 720, making people familiar with the idea. Then we'll be stuck with DRM and other tricks out the bung-hole. I hope people fight the idea of Always-Online at least for the duration of this coming gen.

Yes but no year and a half head start will hurt them... This time around they will be going head to head with the PS4. Negative rumors are currently hurting them, and in the same time frame of negative rumors, Sony is enjoying good press and good hype, and good things being said by developers... This is also hurting Xbox. What will help them is a good E3 with good games... On the other hand showing that these negative rumors are true and they really are kinect centric and going more towards casual then that will be BAD.

How is this hurting them? 360 continues to be the leading console in the biggest market, surely all these current owners lets say in 2014-2020 aren't going to just skip the next Xbox because of some "negative" rumor in mid 2013, lol most of the potential fanbase doesn't know or could care less, the hardcore news followers of course will buy most likely both or already have their mind made up which console brand they prefer.

I tend to agree, it has taken them forever to launch it, and I also think it is a stupid idea pushing the revealing event towards the end of May!! I was thinking end of April is too late, so go figure!!

Also lots of speculations are going around, answering the customers with "no comment" or "we don't respond to speculations" is a rather rude response, esp. gamers are eager, to see the new device.

As for the always-online feature, It wouldn't work properly in the ME and I know that for sure, so I do hope they have a backup plan

Irrelavent. As long as everyone has all their questions answered by the time these consoles launch, neither MS/Sony will have a problem. The only thing a 3 month gap will do for the 720 is make people more curious about it. Its funny, when it was rumored that the PS4 would only be slightly more powerful than the PS3, I didn't hear anyone putting Sony in a doom and gloom scenario. Yet when its rumored that the 720 will be always online, they're doomed.

I do agree that MS waiting 3 months laters or so till next month to reveal their 720 won't hurt them if it's a good show and puts rumors to rest. PS4 being just a little bit stronger than a PS3 would still be alot stronger than a 720 so that's why you didn't hear much about that. Always online is universally hated so that's why that blew up so that's not even close to a so called double standard and the facepalm would be only for MS.

why do people care so much about when they show the console...once the consoles comes out, everyone will forget when they showed the console. all these idiots just wanna see the console.

I think MS should have one show before E3, showing a console at E3 isn't a bad thing, but it isn't enough time to show everything MS may have in mind. The PS4 unveiling took 2 hours and Sony has more to show.

MS may now show anything until E3 and then have another show after that or show give more information during gamescom. It doesn't matter when its shown as long as it comes out along side the PS4.

no they don't because there is no such thing as too far ahead until preorder are taken and actual system sale (preorders can be changed before system release) so Microsoft can still do what they've always done and keep it close to the chest and wait for the e3 to make up your mind or change it. so just be patient and stop acting like spoiled brats. the squeaky wheal doesn't always get the oil when it wants it.

Did the PS4 launch without me knowing? Otherwise I think Microsoft is fine for now. Neither console has shown a console, you cant pre-order either one, Microsoft is finally starting to get some positive rumors, and the ball is in Microsoft's court for when they want to show us, looks like May 21st will be the day, which isn't too long off now.

MS dont need to reveal there hand before Sony they aren't panicking and sees the ps4 as no threat. If they had worries and panick we would have seen the next xbox unvailing a month ago. I think Sony was the scared got wind of what MS was doing and blinked first. Like i said in another thread games that were shown on ps4 isn't that much of an upgrade over current gen.

You do realize the Xbox brand is nothing outside of North America, right? If MS doesn't own the North American market they are a distant 3rd instead of neck and neck with Sony. If you love MS and Xbox, for your sake I hope MS is taking the PS4 a little more seriously than you are. It wouldn't be hard at all for them to get dominated in sales like they were with the original Xbox against the PS2.

If MS gets cocky and thinks they can release a restrictive console without compelling 1st party games, they will not achieve the same success. I'm open to every console but quite frankly MS has to blow the doors off for me to consider getting a 720.

Shipments numbers isn't the be all indicator of who is successfull but it is one of them. Neither one just sends out shipments just because they can, they were sent out because they were ordered and they were to replace ones that people bought.

There is not a big gaming scene with my friends but none of them is vaguely interested in consoles anymore.Everyone just got a pc.I myself havent even plugged in any console in months. Among the kids its like everyone wants an iPad.

If you really "bought" 12 Xbox's I would say you should have learned something after 6 and stopped buying more. Nobody at fault here but yourself for 12 purchased xbox's...IF true (which I highly doubt).

Ive read a few more "casual" game articles here and there from places like Yahoo news (insert laughter here). Only clicked on them because like all of you I love video games,so a game related article often gets a click. Anyway..When I read one, it doesnt talk about the revealed PS4 specs,fears MS will be watching you with Kinect, or even that MS hasnt shown ANYTHING yet.Its just basic Sony and MS are due to have next gen consoles out by the Holidays. That being said,I dont feel MS has fallen behind in a race that has not even started.